Operations & Supply Chain · Pull cash off the shelves
Planning, Inventory & Procurement
Cameo Consulting helps mid-market companies pull working capital out of their planning process. When the forecast, the inventory plan, and the purchasing calendar do not talk to each other, cash piles up on shelves and margin leaks through suppliers nobody has bid out in years. Cameo Consulting fixes the planning cadence (S&OP or SIOP), rightsizes inventory to the service levels the business actually needs, and puts procurement spend through a real market test, working inside your planning process alongside your team. At one $400M+ client, that combination identified roughly $20M in improvement opportunities.
Why does working capital keep piling up?
Working capital rarely hides in one obvious place. It hides in the gaps between functions: a forecast nobody trusts, safety stock set once and never revisited, purchase orders cut to the same suppliers at the same prices year after year.
Closing those gaps is process work first and software work second, which is why it pays back fast. Fix the planning cadence, rightsize the inventory, and market-test the spend, and the cash shows up on the balance sheet, not just in a report.
When companies call about this
When is it time to bring in an S&OP or inventory consultant?
Four signals show up again and again. If two or more sound familiar, there is money on the table.
Inventory keeps growing but service does not
Stock is up 20 percent year over year, yet fill rates are flat and expedites keep happening. That means the buffer is in the wrong SKUs.
Nobody owns the forecast
Sales calls it a finance number, finance calls it a sales number, and operations plans around both. When the forecast has no single owner, every function pads its own plan.
Procurement has never been market-tested
Key categories have not gone to bid in three or more years. Incumbent suppliers are comfortable, and comfortable suppliers are rarely the cheapest.
Ownership set working capital targets
Ownership wants cash off the balance sheet by a specific date, and the team needs a credible plan, not a stretch goal on a slide.
What is the difference between S&OP and SIOP?
They are the same monthly process under two names. SIOP (sales, inventory, and operations planning) makes inventory an explicit decision in the cycle rather than a leftover. Manufacturers with heavy working capital tend to use SIOP; the mechanics, cadence, and meeting structure are otherwise identical.
Cameo Consulting builds or repairs whichever cadence fits your business, then works alongside your planning, inventory, and procurement teams until the process runs on its own. Because Cameo Consulting also builds software, the planning models are built to be used monthly, not admired once.
What does this service include?
The work
- S&OP and SIOP design and improvement. Cameo Consulting builds or repairs the monthly planning cadence: meeting design, a single demand signal, clear owners for each input, and an executive review that ends in decisions. At a $500M+ consumer products company, an S&OP improvement plan alone identified $3M in savings.
- Inventory and working capital reduction. Segment the SKU portfolio, recalculate safety stock against actual demand variability and lead times, flag dead and slow-moving stock, and set targets by segment. The output is a dollar figure by category and a sequence for capturing it.
- Procurement and sourcing support. Build the spend cube, pick the categories worth contesting, and run the market test: RFPs, structured negotiations, and should-cost math. Savings are stated as identified until contracts are signed and prices change.
- Demand planning. Establish a baseline statistical forecast, measure accuracy honestly (by SKU and by month, not just in total), and define how sales and marketing intelligence adjusts the number without inflating it.
What do you get?
- A quantified opportunity assessment with dollar figures by lever.
- Target inventory levels by SKU segment.
- A documented S&OP calendar with roles and inputs.
- Sourcing wave plans or complete RFP packages.
- A tracking model the team keeps after the engagement ends.
What results has this work identified?
A supply chain assessment covered SIOP, working capital, technology and logistics capabilities, and procurement effectiveness. The assessment identified roughly $20M in improvement opportunities across those levers, with inventory and procurement carrying the largest share.
Read the case → Consumer Products $500M+ Consumer Products CompanyAlongside inventory and footprint work, Cameo Consulting mapped the gaps in the planning process and built an S&OP improvement plan that identified $3M in savings, driven by a cleaner demand signal and tighter inventory targets.
Read the case → Industrial Manufacturing $300M+ Multi-Plant Industrial ManufacturerA ground-up PFEP rebuild on the ERP's own data right-sized safety stock, reorder points, and order quantities against a tiered service-level policy, and handed the planners a living tool they run themselves.
Read the case →Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between S&OP and SIOP?
They are the same monthly process under two names. SIOP (sales, inventory, and operations planning) makes inventory an explicit decision in the cycle rather than a leftover. Manufacturers with heavy working capital tend to use SIOP; the mechanics, cadence, and meeting structure are otherwise identical.
How much inventory reduction is realistic?
It depends on how long inventory policy has gone unexamined. Companies that have not segmented SKUs or recalculated safety stock in several years commonly find 10 to 25 percent of targeted inventory can come out without hurting service. A 2-week Rapid Diagnostic puts a specific number on it before anyone commits to a larger effort.
Do we need new planning software before starting?
No. Most of the value comes from process, ownership, and math, and the first wave usually runs on the existing ERP plus purpose-built models. If a planning tool is genuinely the constraint, that shows up in the assessment with a clear-eyed case for it, not a default recommendation to buy software.
What results have clients seen?
A $400M+ automotive aftermarket supplier had a supply chain assessment cover SIOP, working capital, technology and logistics capabilities, and procurement effectiveness, identifying roughly $20M in improvement opportunities, with inventory and procurement carrying the largest share. A $500M+ consumer products company saw an S&OP improvement plan identify $3M in savings, driven by a cleaner demand signal and tighter inventory targets.
Put a number on your planning gaps
Cameo Consulting works alongside your planning, inventory, and procurement teams to find the number and then help capture it. If you already know where the gap is, work can start directly on the S&OP redesign, the inventory rebalance, or the sourcing wave. If you need to find the gap first, a Supply Chain Value Assessment scopes it: a 2-week Rapid Diagnostic on one domain, or a Full Assessment in 4 to 6 weeks. Fixed fee, quoted after a 30-minute scoping call.
Or write directly: nick@cameoconsulting.net